The Silver Shield
by Malise Adair
Summary: Inside the city of Romdo, after an environmental apocalypse, a band of rebels is forming. They all lead normal, respectable lives except for one detail: they're all working against the Romdo legislature and pressing for a revolution.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Ergo Proxy, Re-l Mayer, Iggy, Vincent Law, or any other characters except Spencer. **

Chapter One

The Silver Shield

Spencer checked her watch, a bulky black contraption she had received from Charlie on her 21st birthday, as she sped down the highway of Romdo City on her way to the Immigrant Division. 15:07… shit. She was late. _It's not my fault_, she thought to herself as she impatiently brushed a strand of brown and black highlighted hair out of her face. _I didn't ask Raul to walk in my office just as I was leaving… that bastard's got another thing coming when Remy sees her ride isn't there on time!_

She didn't want to draw attention to herself, but at the same time she couldn't decide which would be more damaging: being pulled over by the Auto-Reivs in charge of patrolling the highway and being issued another ticket, or facing the wrath of Remy LeBeau as she came outside and saw Spencer wasn't there. She decided on the latter and stepped on the gas, pushing the speed limit and ignoring disgruntled looks from other drivers around her.

Her pager beeped and she jumped; she had done this run a hundred times but was still jittery until they had safely left the city. She pulled out the device and looked at the ID number—it was Iggy.

"Hey Iggy, what's up?"

"Spencer, where are you?" the Auto-Reiv's voice came through the phone with a tinny sound. Spencer clapped on her headphones and plugged the jack into the phone, setting it in the passenger seat to have both hands on the wheel.

"On the highway, why?"

"Re-l's been looking for you."

Spencer stifled a sigh. She hated running from Re-l when they were practically fighting for the same side, but she knew it was necessary to stay undercover for the time being.

"What does she want?" she asked, trying to keep her voice casual.

"I don't know," replied Iggy curiously. "But she's been trying to reach you for ages. Spence, are you… avoiding her?"  
"No, why would I do that?" Spencer lied, faking a small laugh. "Re-l's pretty cool, but have you looked at my schedule lately, Iggy?"

"Guess not," he admitted. "I hope you don't think I'm falling behind on my job, but I can hardly keep up with you these days! You've got so much going on… where are you headed now?"

"To the Immigrant Division," Spencer said truthfully, knowing he could track her movements if he had any doubts. "I'm picking up a little of the slack Vincent Law left after he disappeared."

"You mean—testing Auto-Reivs for the Cogito virus?" Iggy sounded surprised. "But we have doctors for that, Spencer, and you don't need to be in the Immigrant Division anyway! It can be dangerous for a girl like you."

Spencer frowned, focusing on the road in front of her as she continued speeding, her tires practically smoldering on the asphalt. "What do you mean, a girl like me?"

"You're one of the best scientists we've got," Iggy said quickly. "If something were to happen while you're out doing community service I'd never forgive myself!"

"Well, it's a good thing no one's after me then, huh?" Spencer said cheerfully, trying to make it sound like he was joking. "Come on, Iggy, I'll be fine. I know it's been a huge adjustment for you, but I'm not Re-l. I don't need a lot of protection."

There was a small silence on the other end of the phone. "Maybe I should come down there anyway, just for backup in case something goes awry…"

"Like what?" Spencer said with a laugh. "These immigrant cases can get pretty personal, Iggy… I'm not sure they'd appreciate it if I brought an Auto-Reiv working for the Civilian Intelligence Office with me."

"But Spencer… you work for the Civilian Intelligence Office."

"I know, but they know me around there. I don't dip into politics; I just stick to scientific facts. They know I'm only there to gather information on the virus."

"I guess you're right," Iggy said grudgingly.

Spencer made a sharp turn, taking the exit to the Immigrant Division. She checked her watch again—15:12. Shit, shit, shit. Iggy was speaking again, but it was drowned out in her thoughts of what she was about to do. Every week, through a spoken message, she would be notified of the date and time in which she was to leave the city of Romdo.

The world outside Romdo was considered by many to be nothing but the remains of the apocalypse, filled with noxious gases and air-borne diseases that would instantly kill any person if they were to fall through the atmosphere. Romdo was suspended high up in the air, and the prospect of falling through the deadly atmosphere and into a bottomless pit of the post-apocalyptic world did not appeal to many of Romdo's citizens. Maybe it was that, the thought of the dangerous world outside, rather than looking at the world inside, that convinced the citizens of Romdo they lived in a paradise. How wrong they were, Spencer thought to herself grimly.

"Spencer?" Iggy's voice sounded confused, bringing her back to reality.  
"Sorry… zoned out there for a minute. What did you say?"

"I said, when are you coming back?"

"In a few hours," she replied as she took a sharp turn, barreling down her exit and into the Immigrant Division

"Okay," Iggy replied grudgingly. "Bye, Spencer!"

"Bye."

She screeched to halt in front of a derelict building. It was supposed to be used as a duplex for immigrants but had long since been abandoned and thus completely ignored by the Citizens Intelligence Office. It was the perfect hiding place, Spencer thought to herself as she exited the car and walked through the doorway of the dilapidated building. No one would suspect a thing… especially not when she left her tracking device inside. She allowed a grim smile to appear on her face; not many people or Auto-Reivs knew where their tracking devices were, but Spencer had learned from a superior source that it simple varied on the individual, and that hers had been implanted when she was a child, in the silver capping on one of her molars. She wrenched it out with as much dignity as possible in case Remy suddenly turned a corner and saw her friend with her fist down her throat. As if her thoughts were heard, her fears were suddenly confirmed.

"Spencer," Remy said in surprise as she walked in on the sight of her friend's hand stuffed into her mouth. Spencer's face flushed and she gave a final tug, yanking the silver capping off before quickly pocketing it.

"Hi, Remy," she said, with some embarrassment.

"I suppose you know you're late," Remy stated, but Spencer was relieved to see an amused expression on her face, realizing that their awkward situation may have diffused her anger.

"I know, I'm sorry," Spencer replied. Remy shrugged, turning around and motioning for Spencer to follow.

"S'ok. Come on."

Spencer shook her head as her friend began to lead her through the neglected space as if she were a newcomer. But then again, she thought to herself, Remy had a habit of being protective, sometimes overly so. At first, she had supposed Remy had always been that way, but discovered shortly after their first meeting that it was quite a change from the person she used to be.

She had started out as probably brightest girl in her class, although she would never show it. She wasn't the most popular in high school, nor the class geek, but she did spend most of her time messing around with vehicles, computers and other forms of technology. By the age of 18, she had finished her first super computer, HAL II. She used this device to calculate the probabilities of different crimes occurring at any given time. She had also been creative, with an inane sense of graphics and a knack for drawing in her spare time, usually various buildings or machinery in Romdo and sometimes design plans for contraptions whose purposes were only known to the depths of mind. She had been known as funny, always laughing and joking, beautiful and full of life. Then Riley was murdered.

She had only seen one picture of Remy and Riley—they were at an outdoor café, with one arm each slung around the other girl, grinning broadly into the camera lens. Riley was toned and blonde, with emerald eyes and a genuine smile. Remy, being 6 feet tall, towered inches above her friend. Her scarlet hair had been long and flowing down past her shoulders then, and her sapphire eyes full of joy. Spencer glanced up at her friend… now that beautiful hair was almost always up in a neat ponytail, her once sparkling eyes now dull, bitter and sorrowful.

Remy had dedicated her life to the Civilian Intelligence Office after Riley's death, in hopes to catch the culprit who murdered her best friend. So far there had been no luck, but she had vowed not to give up until her dying day. Given her already thorough background in criminal intelligence, she was hired immediately and given a job as a forensic scientist. Unfortunately, she soon realized that the legislature in Romdo was not all it was cracked up to be, and found refuge in the company of a few people who she considered to be tolerable, if not quite friend-worthy. Nobody who really knew her blamed her, though; after all, after the loss of one best friend, who would want to open themselves to losing another?

Spencer's thoughts were interrupted as she heard a familiar creaking sound; Remy opened the back door, leading out into the dank alleyways of Romdo. She remembered her tracking device and quickly placed it on the floor by the doorframe, and then followed her friend out into the dregs of the city.

"You know, we're going to have to start going alone," Remy said matter-of-factly as Spencer shut the door behind them. Even in the daytime, this forgotten part of Romdo was dark and murky, filled with shadows and the pollution the rest of the city poured out from their industrialization. "If you and I keep leaving work at the same time, they'll make a connection."

"Are you sure?" Spencer asked nervously.

Remy shot her a look. "Have I been wrong before in predicting their movements?"

"No," Spencer admitted. "It's just that…" she broke off, looking toward opening in the back alley which she and Remy were heading toward. "Never mind."

"I know," Remy said, her tone of voice unusually gentle. "But you'll be fine, Spence." She and her friend exchanged looks. "I promise, you'll be fine without me."

Spencer hung her head low, trying to disguise how nervous she felt. "Did you bring the medicine?" she muttered.

Remy nodded, pulling from her coat pocket two clear gels capsules filled with neon green liquid that glowed in the dark. They were approaching the exit now—a large set of doors that would open automatically when the controls were pressed. Spencer took a pill from her friend's hand, bracing herself as she and Remy exchanged looks.

"You ready?"

Spencer nodded. Simultaneously, they popped the capsules into their mouths and swallowed as Remy's hand hit the button. The large grey doors slid open to reveal the world outside Romdo. Noxious gases began to pour through the open doors, the wind raging and almost knocking Remy and Spencer off their feet as they clung desperately to the aluminum walls of the alley.

"Now," Remy yelled, and they let go at the same time. The two girls were sucked forward into the vortex, letting their bodies go limp as they flew through the metallic black piping outside the city. Above their heads, they could see Romdo floating in the air, an enormous chunk of metal and rock suspended in the atmosphere by pipes that extended down past the clouds and disappeared under the polluted vapors. Spencer felt a strange sensation around her navel as she began to fall through the atmosphere, the city of Romdo becoming smaller and smaller in the distance. She looked over at Remy, whose face was focused and body was carefully relaxed, and knew she was losing consciousness as her friend disappeared through dark wisps of cloud and she began to feel light-headed… the gases must be getting to her…

"Worked like a charm."

The words echoed inside Spencer's head, reverberating as she opened her eyes and images blurred before her. The world outside Romdo was so much brighter; it hurt her eyes to be in this much light after another full week of near-darkness. And yet it was a pale light in this room, much like the world outside rather than the obnoxious fluorescent lights most of the other people in the marshes used…

"Spencer, can you hear me?"

"Yes, James," she muttered. She sat up with a small groan, attempting to ignore the shooting pain above her right eye as her vision began to return. What she saw when she could see clearly was the face of a man she knew—pale blonde hair cut short and spiked up with gel, bright blue eyes, 6 feet tall with a kind face and a muscular build.

"How was it?" he asked concernedly.

"Shitty, like always," Spencer replied. "Sorry James… I shouldn't complain; I made the damn stuff. Where's Remy?"

"Outside," he answered with a small smile, "She woke up minutes ago."

Spencer grumbled to herself as she rolled out of the cot, ignoring the tiny voice in the back of her head yelling at her to lie down for a few more minutes. Time here was precious, and she couldn't waste any of it.

"Are you sure you're okay to walk?" James called after her.

"Yeah," she replied. "Come on James, I know Remy wants to see you."

James's face contorted slightly in an expression of awkward guilt—Spencer knew Remy and James had fancied each other ever since they had met in Romdo. They usually passed each other at work and had struck up a causal acquaintanceship, but neither of them knew Spencer had orchestrated them to return to the marshes at the same time on that day. As much as Spencer hated playing the role of matchmaker, she knew both of them were lonely and she had no qualms about what they felt for each other. It was all she could do to give them the right place and the right time. As for her own romance…

She slowly made her way through the hallway, running a hand through her long, brown and black-streaked hair and hoping it didn't look too messy… but he didn't seem to care, she noticed with a smile as she stepped outside into the foggy daylight and was greeted with some wonderfully familiar faces, including that of a certain man, who was beaming at her…

"Hey," Remy said casually, walking toward her through the mist. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she lied, and Remy cracked a small smile.

"I hate the after-effects, too," she chuckled. Suddenly, Spencer saw a blur as a certain young lady rushed toward her, knocking her backwards as she threw her arms around her and attempted to squeeze the life out of her.

"Hey, Charlie," she gasped.

When she pulled away, Spencer stood regarding one of her closest friends. Charlie was almost a head taller than Spencer, with strawberry-blonde hair and brownish-hazel eyes. She was naturally thin, and her hair was cut short and straightened stylishly. She wore clothes that were different from most other people living in or outside Romdo; they were usually brightly colored with crazy designs and cut into wacky shapes. Today, she was wearing a solid black bandana as a top, so that it left plenty of tanned skin showing at her midriff, accompanied by ripped-up blue jeans and chunky black boots that made her gain even more height, but also helped her wade through the marshes more easily.

"Hey Spencer," she laughed, holding up a peace sign with her hand. Spencer returned the sign with a laugh of her own; everything about Charlie was quirky, even her outdated ways of greeting people. How she managed to disguise herself when she did visit Romdo was beyond her.

Charlie had lived out on the marshes ever since she was a child. Her mother died alone in child birth and her caretaker, an elderly woman, had attempted to rescue the child from being given to a cruel foster home by running away from Romdo. The two of them had been sucked into the vortex and although the elderly woman had perished, Charlie survived. The two of them were presumed dead from that point on in Romdo, but in actuality, Chalie was rescued by the inhabitants of the marshes, who could fix the virus growing in people who had been exposed to the noxious gases outside Romdo. They had saved Charlie's life and kept her to live among them, where she lead a practically normal, although somewhat strange and isolated life.

As Charlie grew up, she began to realize that all the people in the marshes, people who were her friends, had been banished from Romdo unfairly. She grew to hate the people of Romdo, and as she learned more about politics, she decided she had found her calling in life. Charlie became a self-employed as a spy, working relentlessly on finding a way to make it back up to Romdo so she could do undercover work and take a look for herself at what was really going on. She taught herself code-breaking and computer programming, becoming an expert hacker as well as dabbling in forensics. Being sheltered for a good portion of her life, Charlie often had trouble conversing with human beings, but seemed to have a knack for getting whatever she wanted out of computers. But it wasn't until she met Spencer that she mastered two more of her now professional talents: pyrotechnics and aeronautics.

It had been a fateful day in Charlie's life, the day Spencer had fallen through the poisonous atmosphere and into the marshes. Spencer had been kept under quarantine for days, while they cured the virus that had spread in her before releasing her to mingle with the other people who had suffered banishment. However, it turned out that Spencer had not been banished, but had actually wanted to leave Romdo, searching for a way out of the city and wondering what lay in the remains of the world. She and Charlie immediately struck up a friendship, discussing the different tyrannies being committed in Romdo and plotting ways to stop the corrupt legislature. Spencer revealed to Charlie that she was a scientist for the Civilian Intelligence Office, working on a cure for the Cogito virus. Together, the two of them combined their talents to find a way back to the city so they could commence with working undercover.

Spencer worked night and day on gathering natural resources from the marshes and created her own lab, experimenting with different mixtures until she found one that would disguise human identities as Auto-Reivs to escape the scanner that came through the marshes on a daily basis. The scanner was a robot created by people in Romdo, and would kill whatever human life it detected, but it would disregard Auto-Reivs or other seemingly harmless mechanical parts it discovered in the marshes. At the same time, Charlie, who had taken a previous interest in mechanics, began working on her first aeroplane. She made it into an armored machine in case Spencer's medicine didn't work and they were forced to blast the scanner out of the sky.

Spencer then created tablets from the mixture, allowing herself and Charlie to be undetected every time the scanner came through. Once they had done several test runs to check the efficiency of the medicine, they decided to risk a voyage back to Romdo. Both knowing there was no guarantee they would make it there alive, Charlie had started up the engine and lifted off the ground with her friend by her side.

It worked like a charm—the machine flew flawlessly through the layers of poison gas, even passing the scanner on the way up with no disturbance whatsoever. It simply flew by without so much as a beep, and it was then they knew they had succeeded. That day, Charlie dropped Spencer off at the opening leading back into Romdo and wished her good luck. Spencer promised Charlie she would take her in next time, but she had to get back to work and create an elaborate explanation of why she had disappeared for a week.

Ever since then, Spencer and Charlie had made frequent visits from the marshes to Romdo and vice versa, but Spencer found it more and more difficult to recover from the virus every time she fell through the noxious gases. She had gone back to her lab, working day and night to create another mixture, this time using the antidotes for the virus to put into her tablets. She took them before plunging into the depths of the atmosphere, and the next time she fell down to the marshes, she still lost consciousness but awoke virus-free. She passed every medical examination she was given, noting that there didn't seem to be any detrimental side effects to the pill. The next time she went down to the marshes, she decided to bring a friend.

After a period of time, Remy started coming down to the marshes with Spencer on a regular basis. She and Charlie also struck up a friendship and, before long, Remy brought a friend of her own. His name was James Watson, an inspector for the Civilian Intelligence Office. He was just an advisor when he met Remy, but he became an inspector just before his 25th birthday. James had a reputation as a hard worker, sometimes considered to be too nice to some of his friends or co-workers. He had a very generous heart but was also strongly opinionated, and enjoyed a good argument from time to time. Remy took an immediate liking to his sensitivity and competitiveness, noticing that he had a good sense of humor which often brought her out of her dark thoughts and back into the daylight, dim as it was in Romdo.

Together, the four of them combined efforts to exploit the dictatorship in Romdo and, little by little, they were able to make some progress. They considered themselves a team—Spencer, the founder of the organization, used her talents in science, weapon control, pharmaceutical mixtures, explosives and pyrotechnics to create most of the household gadgets and devices used as weaponry that, James confirmed, would otherwise seem harmless to any Civilian Intelligence inspector. Charlie, the geek of the group, used her expertise in computer programming, hacking, code-breaking, pyrotechnics and aeronautics to plan and design complicated machines that she could then build and engineer with some help from her friends. Remy also had a strong background in technology but preferred to use her talents in forensics, engineering, criminal intelligence and pure fighting skill to hunt down Riley's killer, seeing the team as a sort of side project while her main line of work was in the doldrums. James, who joined because of Remy in the first place, soon found that he fit in with the group rather well and it became one of the places he truly felt at home. As an inspector for the Civilian Intelligence Office, James's original goal was to legally and successfully become rich, but it seemed he might have other plans on his mind since meeting the lovely Miss LeBeau and joining her band of rebels.

But the team wasn't complete without one final member, someone they met almost a full year after beginning their undercover work in Romdo. It was Spencer who had discovered him one night as she snuck down the back alley of the city, quickly swallowing the gel capsule containing antidotes for the virus outside. As soon as her hand hit the button to open the doors, she heard the _click_ of the safety being removed from a gun and froze. While she was debating whether to turn around or to simply jump into the vortex, she felt the barrel of a pistol at the back of her head.

"Turn around," a voice growled. Spencer did so, very slowly, and was appalled as she laid eyes on the man holding her at gunpoint. He had long, black hair that fell down almost to his shoulders, dark brown eyes and a broad-shouldered, muscular build covered by skin almost as pale as hers. He towered above her, his dark eyes narrowed, and a grim expression on his face. Spencer kicked herself mentally as her breath was stopped short by this man's looks, knowing that she was a fool for being taken by surprise. But as he looked at her longer he seemed to be taken aback… his eyes darted over Spencer's slightly toned body, from the top of her brown and black-streaked hair, down to her solid black sleeveless shirt, baggy black pants and studded belt, to the tip of her steel-toed black boots. Thrown over it all was a black leather trench coat with the collar raised. The man kept the gun pointed at her, although his finger did not touch the trigger.

"Why are you here?" he demanded.

"Who wants to know?" Spencer had shot back, knowing it was a risk to mouth off when being held at gunpoint but also knowing she did not want to betray her friends with her dying breath.

"The name's Bane," he growled.

"You work for the Civilian Intelligence Office?"

"No," he replied scornfully. "Do you?"

"Yeah," Spencer admitted. Bane tightened his grip on the gun with a pained look.

"Aw, and I was hoping I could spare you… I'd hate to spoil that pretty face with a bullet wound."

"And I'd hate to spoil that pretty gun with a weapon of my own," she retorted. Bane raised his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah?"

In one fluid motion, Spencer whirled around and kicked the pistol out of Bane's hand, sending it flying across the alley where it collided with a wall, but thankfully did not go off. Bane rushed her immediately, striking her before she had time to return her foot to the ground. Spencer flew backward and fell down hard, a gash appearing on her left cheek, but she sprang to her feet at once and tried to return it with a blow of her own. Unfortunately, Bane blocked or dodged every move she attempted and instead continually knocked her backward, further and further toward the vortex. By the time Spencer decided she was sufficiently beaten, she was teetering on the edge and had little choice of what to do next. She took one more look at Bane, whose face was now somewhat more illuminated by the pale grey light outside, and made a rash and indulgent decision. She grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him toward her, pushed off from the ledge of the opening, and brought them both tumbling down into the vortex.

When Bane awoke next, he was in a cot in a strange room. He heard whispered voices outside in the hall, realizing that one of the voices was Spencer's, and heard his name tossed around a few times.

"How do you know we can trust this Bane character?" a female voice was saying.

"I don't," Spencer replied in hushed tones, "But isn't that the fun of it all? The risk?"

"Whatever, Spence," the girl's stern voice replied. "You only want to go back in there because you think he's… he's… cute." The word was spat out like it was foul.

"Oh, really?" Spencer replied softly, "And what's the harm in that?"

"Well…" the other girl seemed to be searching for words. "There wouldn't be any, if we knew why he was trying to kill you!"

"Well, there's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

"We could send in someone else… that way if he tried anything again, you wouldn't get hurt…you didn't even remove his weapons, did you?"

"'Course not," Spencer replied, offended. "That would be rude, and it would provoke the poor guy. You can provoke him if you want, but after getting my butt beat once, I really don't feel like going for a second round."

The other girl sighed. "Fine. Just…" she made an impatient noise, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but be careful."

Without another word, Bane heard footsteps going down the hall and then saw Spencer walk into the room where he was laying.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he muttered groggily. "Where are we?"

"You're in the marshes," she explained. "We're outside Romdo."

"I knew there had to be survivors," Bane said with some satisfaction. "I knew all the banished people couldn't have just died."

"You've had a virus from the poisonous gases in the atmosphere for ten days," Spencer said. "You're pretty much cured now, but you'll want to stay in bed and rest for a little while longer before getting up and about."

Bane grunted in response, and suddenly the memory of everything that had happened came flooding back to him. "Who are you?"

"My name is Spencer," she replied, "I'm a scientist for the Civilian Intelligence Office, but Remy, James and I come here at least once a week to see our friends and talk about how to overthrow the idiots running the legislature…" her voice trailed off, and she was only brought back to reality as Bane uttered a slight noise of appreciation. "Sorry," she said quickly. "But, er… I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Why were you trying to kill me?"

Bane sighed, shifting slightly in his cot. "Well… mainly because I was lurking around the alleyways and didn't know who you were or what you were up to. It was nothing personal… I just didn't want to get caught."

"Caught… doing what?"

He cracked a mischievous grin. "Trying to find the opening."

"Well, I guess you found it," Spencer laughed.

"Thanks to you," he replied. Suddenly noticing the cut on her left cheek, which was beginning to scab over and leave nothing but a thin scar, he reached up and ran his fingers over it. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

Spencer shrugged. "It's no big deal." Although she had still been slightly put out about being beaten in the fight, he was forgiven the second she felt his touch.

Bane closed his eyes, allowing a smile to spread across his lips. "So… do you really think I'm cute?"

Spencer felt the color rising to her face. "You heard that?" she mumbled.

"Yeah," he chuckled, "It's no big deal… but do you?"

"Maybe," she replied briskly, walking toward the door. "Maybe that's why I let you win the fight."

"Ohhh," Bane called, sitting up slowly. "Maybe we should have a re-match, then!" He attempted to spring out of the bed, but was immediately struck with dizziness and promptly sat back down again.

"Maybe not," Spencer said casually, as if she hadn't noticed anything, so as not to hurt his pride. "Maybe I'm not as good as I think."

"Mmm," Bane muttered, not knowing what else to say. Spencer advanced toward him tentatively.

"You should rest, so it's an equal match," she suggested. Bane took her advice and settled back down into the cot, pulling the covers around him and cracking another smile.

"Girl, I could beat you with my eyes closed," he boasted, although his voice was soft and he seemed to be drifting back into sleep. Spencer settled down in a chair next to the cot, tenderly watching over him until she began to drift off herself. But before she lost consciousness she was sure she heard him muttering, "Don't touch… weapons… thanks…" and then a light snore as he fell into sleep. She smiled to herself, knowing it was the closest she would get to a 'thank-you' for saving his life. But coming from him, it was sufficient…

From that day forward, Bane had become one of the team. The other learned quickly that he shared their hatred of politics in Romdo and had been looking for someone to discuss them with for a long time. He had just been beginning to think he was alone in his beliefs before he met Spencer and the rest of the team. They all became fast friends, and Bane became the weapons expert of the team. He used his knowledge and talents in martial arts, weapon and blade control, hand-to-hand combat, explosives, organized crime and mechanics to earn his position as the most experience fighter in the group.

After meeting Bane, the rest of the group seemed confident that the five founders were in place and now it was just a matter of gaining followers. Spencer, Remy, Charlie, James, and Bane assumed the name The Silver Shield, and adopted the emblem of a silver flame as their crest. Romdo now had, for the first time, a group of organized rebels working to tear down the establishment from the inside out and fight for the greater good of the people—including fellow citizens, immigrants, Auto-Reivs, and whomever else they might come across. The point was that they were fighting, and they would stop at nothing to achieve peace and justice for the people in Romdo, determined to turn the last remaining city in the world into a real paradise instead of a simulated one.

Spencer was snapped back to reality as the faces of Charlie, Remy, James and Bane peered down at her (she was the shortest one in the group), and she exchanged hellos with all of them. But there was something in Bane's eye that she and Remy both saw, as her friend steered Charlie and James away from the two of them, that she had missed immensely in the week she hadn't seen him. Tempted as she was to fall into his arms and touch those silken lips with her own, she knew that was something she could do only in her dreams. However, he would indulge her from time to time in walks along the bank of the marshes, where they could stare through the mist and discuss everything under the pale sun for a few moments while Remy provided a distraction, trying to control a bouncing Charlie while exchanging with James a private look of her own. And that day, as they did every day they met in the marshes, they all shared a singular thought.

This, not Romdo, was the real paradise.


End file.
